Dec 5th 2022 Chelan Slater

AGI vs AI
Short Essay #2

COGS 100

Dr. Jeremy Turner

December 5th, 2022, Fall Semester 2022

Chelan Slater

301462233
Dec 5th 2022 Chelan Slater

Researchers created artificial intelligence machines to resemble human cognitive abilities and

intelligence levels, and already they are embedded in so many areas in society. Artificial

intelligence is defined as “A field of study that seeks to explain and emulate intelligent behavior

in terms of computational processes.” (Russel & Norvig, 1994, pg. 5). Through this new field we

have developed machines and technology to ease the daily lives of humans, and these new

technologies are used in many areas, but significantly in healthcare. The differences between AI

(Artificial Intelligence) and AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) are important, as are their

associated engineering approaches of constructionism versus constructivism. There are pros and

cons associated with both as exemplified by these technological agents, and as witnessed in the

healthcare system. (Johnson, M. J, 2020, pg. 7)

Artificial Intelligence and Artificial General Intelligence may seem indistinguishable on the

surface level, however, research indicates that they are quite different in many ways even though

they do have similar attributes. Firstly, the main difference between the two is that AI is

considered relatively weak because it operates with narrow specialization, whereas AGI is

regarded as a stronger AI as it can be used for broadly generalized tasks and has a closer

intelligence level to humans. AI systems have human-level traits as well, yet the performance is

limited compared to AGI systems that include elements such as self-awareness, will, attention,

creativity, common-sense reasoning, and other significant human qualities (Friedenberg &

Silverman, 2012, pg. 374). In addition, AGI is not limited to specific domains, while AI is. In

terms of the engineering approaches, AGI is based on constructivism, as the system involves

emergent automatic self-coding principles that is much more complex and extensive (Thórisson,

2009, pg. 179). AI on the other hand is based on constructionism, as the embedded systems use

manually updated codes (Thórisson, 2009, pg. 175).

Dec 5th 2022 Chelan Slater

Artificial Intelligence is about the construction of intelligent agents, i.e., systems that

perceive and act effectively in an environment (Russell, 1998, pg. 101). An example of an

Artificial General Intelligence agent is The CyberKnife which is a robot surgery system that

delivers radiation therapy to tumors with sub-millimeter precision (Case Western Reserve

University, 2022 pg. 1, para. 9). It is now being used to treat cancer at hospitals and treatment

centers all over the United States. Out of the five generic intelligent agents, The CyberKnife

robot exemplifies that of a learning agent. A learning agent is an advanced AGI that learns from

an experience of a world-model that includes learning from at least one utility, multiple goals,

states, and actions/reflexes. Learning agents are capable of learning from mistakes and from

prior knowledge, and are also essential for handling stochastic environments. The CyberKnife

robot for instance, is a radiation source mounted on a robot which allows for a targeted beam of

radiotherapy that has the ability to maneuver and adapt quickly. It can deliver radiation to a

tumor, repositioning itself at many different angles to target the tumor from all sides by using

real-time image guidance to synchronize patient movement with the beam trajectory to approach

tumors from any angle to precisely target cancerous cells (Johnson, M. J, 2020, pg. 7). The

CyberKnife allows for treatment of tumors in areas of the body that were once surgically

complex to operate on, and simultaneously allows for non-invasive “surgery”, minimizing the

exposure of healthy organs and tissues to radiation (Case Western Reserve University, 2022, pg.

1, para. 5). Secondly, an example of an Artificial Intelligence agent is The Xenex Germ-Zapping

Robot, which is an automated robot used to disinfect entire hospital rooms in minutes using full-

spectrum UV rays that kill a range of infectious bacteria (Case Western Reserve University,

2022, pg. 1 para. 6). This robot is an example of an AI agent and not an AGI agent because it is

task-driven, domain specific, and has one role. It is not adaptable to its environment and self-
Dec 5th 2022 Chelan Slater

aware like the CyberKnife robot, and thus has limited optimal performance of human-level traits

which makes it an AI agent.

Having discussed some differences between AI and AGI and some examples of each, it is

important to further understand the pros and cons of both. AI agents are efficient at performing

specific tasks which reduces the amount of work humans may have to do. For example, The

Xenex Germ-Zapping robot cleans hospital rooms so that humans don’t have to. However, a

major con of AI is that it is specifically task-driven, and cannot adapt to its surroundings or

environment. AI agents have only one role and once programmed to perform this duty, they are

repetitive in the sense that their jobs cannot be altered. Therefore, even though AI might be more

efficient at handling one task compared to AGI or a human, it is not very versatile. Thórisson

(2009, pg. 175) states that most AI machinery are dumber than a fruit fly and that the

constructionist AI approach relies greatly on code implementation. Compared to AGI which is

advantageous because it can adapt to its surrounding environment in real time, seeing that it also

has more of a human-like intelligence level. A disadvantage of the constructionist AI approach is

that they are monolithic, in that every piece is essential, and taking one away can result in

complete system failure (Thórisson, 2009, pg. 177). An advantage of this approach however is

that these agents’ average module’s algorithm are of relatively small size, which gives data

transparency for the whole system, frequent activity, and high temporal resolution as well

(Thórisson, 2009, pg. 177). Another con to the constructionist AI approach is that they associate

with a heavy reliance on manual labour in comparison with AGI (Thórisson, 2009, pg. 177).

Some advantages of the constructivist AI approach are that they are more complex and vastly

larger than what is possible to build, they rely on self-organization which limits manual labour,

and they also have continuous operation capabilities (Thórisson, 2009, pg. 179). However, one
Dec 5th 2022 Chelan Slater

con with this approach is that they are more complicated, time-consuming and difficult to build

and create.

As Artificial Intelligence technologies become more implemented in the lives of humans,

our lives are becoming more convenient and efficient. The technology involved in the healthcare

system are only a small glimpse of examples of the many types of AI agents that are impacting

our lives every day. The transition from AI to AGI will only advance from here, and more

complicated creations will exist soon in our future.

Sources

Friedenberg, J., & Silverman, G. (2012). Cognitive science: An introduction to the study of
Mind (2nd ed.). Sage.

Division, S. R. C. S., Russell, S., Division, C. S., Univ., A. N., Univ., T.-A., & Metrics, O. M. V.
A. (1998, July 1). Learning agents for uncertain environments (extended abstract): Proceedings
of the eleventh annual conference on computational learning theory. ACM Conferences.
Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/279943.279964

Thórisson, K. R. (2009, October). From constructionist to constructivist ai. In 2009 AAAI Fall
Symposium Series.

Case School of Engineering, Case Western Reserve University. (2022, October 13). 5 medical
robots making a difference in healthcare. CWRU Online Engineering. Retrieved December 4,
2022, from https://online-engineering.case.edu/blog/medical-robots-making-a-difference

Johnson, M. J., Bui, K., & Rahimi, N. (2020). Medical and Assistive Robotics in Global
Health. Handbook of Global Health, 1-46.